Tigers will try to fill the void

For the first time in five years, the future of Missouri softball doesn't include Chelsea Thomas. Gone are those 70 mph dropballs and baffling changeups, that composed demeanor and humble personality.

The day everyone knew would come is here — Thomas is no longer the face of a program she helped turn into one of the nation's elite.

Now what?

"Our team's going to be really, really good for a long time — plain and simple," Coach Ehren Earleywine said after Missouri's season-ending loss to Washington in last week's super regional. "If I didn't recruit another kid, we're set for the next seven or eight years."

In a sport where having a star pitcher is more important than anything else, Missouri has some hotly recruited hurlers on the way. Two incoming freshmen, Maryland native Tori Finucane and Idahoan Casey Stangel, are expected to form a pitching tandem next season.

They'll be replacing a legend.

"The pressure is on," Finucane said in a phone interview this week. "I'll try to do my best to keep that legacy going."

Iowan Paige Lowary, a verbal commitment for the 2014 season, could join in two years. All three pitchers have been named the best in their state at least once, and they have gaudy statistics to back up the honors.

Finucane, from the Washington D.C. suburbs, set her state record for strikeouts the last two seasons and finished her senior year with an ERA of 0.21. Stangel posted a 0.72 ERA. She is also expected to bat for Missouri after hitting .640 with 15 home runs as a senior. Lowary went 32-5 with a 1.09 ERA as a junior.

Another pitcher is expected to be added for the upcoming season: Alora Marble, a Jefferson City native who served as Southeast Missouri's ace in 2011 and 2012. She went 15-15 with a 2.64 ERA in 2012 at SEMO.

"We're in good shape depth-wise," Earleywine said in an interview earlier this month.

That wasn't the case this season, when Missouri had just one true major college pitcher. No. 2 pitcher Bailey Erwin left the team two weeks into the season, leaving designated hitter Nicole Hudson and utility player Lindsey Muller as backups for the ailing Thomas. Thomas fought through a condition that caused her arm and hand to swell and numb when pitching too many innings in a short span.

In the end, though, pitching wasn't the reason the Tigers dropped a super regional series for the second straight year. Missouri had six hits and scored one run in two games against Washington.

Missouri will have to replace more than just Thomas. Catcher Jenna Marston and Hudson finished in the top 10 in school history in hits, doubles, runs, RBI and walks. For the most part, though, MU returns the bulk of a lineup that hit .320 in the regular season.

It doesn't return a single pitcher, though, and it loses one of the most accomplished athletes in school history. Thomas blew past the school's strikeout record last season and is No. 1 in wins with a 111-31 career record.

"I do have big shoes to fill," Finucane said. "I know I'm coming in with another great pitcher, Casey. I think we kind of both have to step in and step up to the plate and produce."

Finucane enters with a sparkling résumé. She had offers from other powerhouse programs and chose Missouri three years ago. She had an ERA of 0.09 as a junior and allowed just five earned runs as a senior in leading Bishop O'Connell to a state title.

O'Connell Coach Tommy Orndorff, who's coached softball for more than 40 years, said Finucane (pronounced Fen-new-can) will have success as a freshman in the Southeastern Conference.

"She'll be fine. I think Tori has the makings like Chelsea Thomas," he said. "From the beginning" Missouri "told her they'd give her the ball coming in. She'll step up and do the job."

Finucane plans to use three pitches at MU — dropball, riseball and changeup — and throws 67-70 mph, on pace with Thomas. Over the last few seasons, Finucane has transitioned from a side-to-side pitcher — she can throw a screwball and curveball — to one who throws more vertical. It was all an effort to prepare her to pitch at Missouri.

"The Missouri coaching staff wanted her to change things so she's more up and down," Orndorff said. "She's trying to prepare herself to play right away at Missouri."

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